American Engine-uity

Homebuilt or custom-made racecars were not new to America’s racetracks as they had been appearing for decades on dirt ovals, at the Bonneville Salt Flats and at the Indianapolis 500. In the years prior to WWII, drag racing’s predecessor—speed runs on the dry lakes of the Mojave Desert in California—had seen an endless stream of homemade “hot rods” turning impressive speeds. However, WWII interrupted this pursuit of speed and competition and many of this country’s car builders, drivers and mechanics went off to fight in Europe and the Pacific.

At the conclusion of the war, the American public was eager to return to a normal lifestyle and the leisure time activities they had enjoyed before the war. They wanted to replace their wartime worries and hardship with a more carefree attitude and pursue some of the leisure time activities they had enjoyed before the war. Prior to 1941, racing of all types, whether it was oval track, midgets, stock cars, jalopies, speed runs or hill climbs, had been very popular. With the war over, all of these activities began to resurface and although it took a few years, sports car road racing began to emerge, but slowly at first, with just a few events on the calendar. It began to flourish and, by the early 1950s, it was growing by leaps and bounds all over the country.